With so many voices marketing their product, brand, organization, or event, it can seem difficult to get your message out there amongst so much noise. When everyone is trying to outwit one another, it can seem as though a particular message has punch and relevance.
For this reason, sometimes relying on a simple marketing message is the best possible option. Such an approach not only helps you distill what you really want to say, but it helps you focus on substance instead of the frills surrounding it.
Moreover, in today’s bite-sized attention economy, it’s more likely that a simple marketing message will be understood, appreciated, and remembered. After all, while advertising is tolerable, it’s easy to lose your audience if they feel too much of their time has been taken.
For this reason, in this post, we’ll discuss not only why to simplify your marketing message, but how to do it.
Sell The Emotion & Feeling
Simplifying your marketing message doesn’t always mean “using fewer words,” although it can. Sometimes, condensing the emotion and the personal impact you hope to create can be much more effective. After all, a feeling can communicate much more, and more quickly, if applied correctly. So for example, using calming music in your 15-second radio ad for the best spa tables can help customers feel deeply comforted by that, and align with the “vibe” you’re trying to sell. This way, inner peace becomes what you’re selling, and that can help build the mystique of your brand.
Make The Value Proposition Clear
What is the value proposition you’re offering? It’s important to make that very clear. It might be that you have a fantastic new product, your prices beat the competition, or you want to expand into a new audience. Having that clear helps you run marketing campaigns designed to curate a specific audience without limiting them in any way. Making that value proposition clear can also help you get a direct message across, not just by reminding an audience of your presence generally. Lead with that first, and your brand second.
Why Market This Now?
All advertisements, in some capacity, are bound by the relevance of the now. Even Coca-Cola who might solely want to remind you of their presence, will pursue a brand strategy relevant to now and not five years ago, although it’s unlikely fewer people know of their product in that time. As such, it’s important to consider why you’re marketing now and use that to lead with a simple message. Maybe you have a sale on, or you have a promotion for those watching your sponsorship of a local sports tournament. When you have this reason, you can more adequately put forward a reason why they should care, or remain motivated into appropriate action. This also adds a sense of urgency to your marketing message, allowing you to have a further impact with fewer words utilized.
Consider Your Medium
Of course, simplicity in a marketing message might be different depending on the medium chosen. A quick radio jingle isn’t going to work in a television advertisement. However, a sponsored blog or influencer post may have more room for a captured audience to pay attention. Some platforms even have limits. For example, YouTube advertisements can sometimes be skipped within five seconds – and so putting forward your point in that time is preferable to a long-winded and overly complex marketing effort. It’s good to experiment with different mediums to see which has the best yield for your own brand and to move forward from that point onward.
Hooks & Quick Lessons
Ultimately, a marketing effort should seek to excite and inform its audience. But which is better, if you had to choose? Well, exciting without informing leads to nothing, but informing and pointing in your direction and then exciting later on could be better. For this reason, quick hooks and lessons in your marketing approach can help you get the salient point over first, which can entice people to look more into the value being offered.
For example, you might celebrate that you’ve joined forces with another brand to offer a new product. Clearly list the product, where they can get it, and why it matters. That can be enough of a quick hook to transform into a further lesson, perhaps a clear description of how the process works on your websites. Each step of the process has been simplified for relevance, but you’ll lead with the important step forward. You could do much worse than that.
With this advice, you’ll be certain to simplify your marketing message and perhaps even gather some new conversions because of it. This can help you outwit every intelligent but long-winded marketing department out there.